Pages

Saturday, October 15, 2016

There are so many fun ideas for kindness that all grades can bring into the classroom! To me, I think taking the time to circle back to being kind throughout the school year is something we can do fairly easily and has a long-term impact on our students. Try out my #KindnessIsContagious year-long idea to use as a touchstone of sorts to keep the conversation going and inspire students to look for and take part in random acts of kindness. Bonus is that it will also decorate your classroom quite nicely!

#KindnessIsContagious

To Begin

Share a time during the week when you (the teacher) either saw a random act of kindness or performed a random act of kindness. Tell students the story and explain to them that when you were getting ready for this project, you started to notice a lot of different ways people were being kind. Then share with them the thinking that when people see acts of kindness, it is an inspiration for them to do something kind.

Tell students you all are going to try to inspire EVERYONE who walks into the classroom to do something kind when they leave. You decided that by creating a chain of kindness and hanging it up in the classroom, people will see it and be inspired by the stories. The chain will be called #KindnessIsContagious. (Kids LOVE hashtags!).

Write the act of kindness you described earlier on the strip of paper and then tell students you are waiting for someone to write on another strip so you can begin making the chain. Ask if anyone has something they did or saw that they could write. If not, that is fine. I would tell students to be on the lookout and that you will check in with them at the end of the day to see if anyone has done or seen an act of kindness. (Be sure to leave enough time at the end of the day). I collect the strips throughout the day and after students pack up for dismissal, we meet in a circle and students share their links with the class. When they leave, I staple them to the chain and the next day, they see it and get all excited! It's great!

Final Product!

Students will get a kick out of the chain growing longer and longer! Ours was about to touch the ground on Friday and the kids were excited to see it on Monday after I will have added the 15 strips we collected this week!

Materials

Strips of paper (I used the colors of my classroom)

Sharpie or Marker

Bin for Strips of paper labeled "#KindnessIsContagious"

Set Up

Place the strips, Sharpie and bin in an easily accessible area of the classroom. Establish a clear time when it is appropriate for kids to write their acts of kindness on the strips. I say during read aloud, lunch, snack, before and after school or if they finish an assignment early.

Where in your Curriculum Can you Sprinkle in some Kindness?

Take a moment and look over your curriculum. Find areas where you can tie in being kind or how kindness or not being kind has effected an outcome of a situation. Teachers of younger-aged students can use books about kindness, anti-bullying and making friends to teach how to read and/or comprehension strategies.

Teachers of older-aged students, when teaching history for example, can find out about the groups of people who supported troops or countries through nonviolent acts of peace and tell your students about it. This article tells about Quakers who fed children and helped those in Germany after WWII following the principle that every person in need has to be helped. Math teachers can use the example of helping others and the cost of natural disasters. Make a graph for the types of supplies you collected for victims!

An 8th grade student himself came up with a kindness project that involves challenging middle school students to be kind. It has now been used in over 4600 different middle schools! Maybe it is exactly what your school is looking for or something you might want to adapt and use in your own classroom! Bonus: All the resources are free!

Reestablish Classroom Unity and Togetherness in the Middle of the School Year

Click on the picture to check out the lesson plan and puzzle pieces for this really amazing and super important student activity

Sometimes bringing students together in the middle of the school year with a project or lesson is a good idea because it reminds students that they are all on the same team and need to look out for each other. I never assume that my students are always on the same page as each other. There is almost always trouble in paradise among friends at some point or another and unfortunately, I am not always aware of it. Therefore, I want to make sure I am not only teaching the skills to deal with conflict, but also fostering a sense of unity in my classroom even after the beginning of the school year. Using games where success can only be achieved if they work as a team is a great way to show the value in teamwork and trust. There are so many good ideas in the book called Great Group Games. This book also offers really great ideas for challenges, trust building, and get-to-know-you games. I use this a lot at the beginning of the year and then pull it out a few times a month thereafter.

Classroom Discussions Can have a Wonderful Impact

Sometimes just talking to students about what peace means to them can be really empowering. Through discussion, students will start to see that being peaceful can mean so many different things! When I facilitate this type of discussion in my classroom of 5th graders, I like to allow students to really guide each other in seeing that there is no one, correct answer. For younger grades, you might want to pose questions for students to think about. Such as: What would peace look like in your neighborhood? What would peace look like in our school? What does peace feel like?

Building Kindness into your Curriculum can only ENHANCE the learning and opportunities for your students to practice one of the most valuable life skills!

Saturday, October 8, 2016

A couple of weeks ago, my students and I were discussing which genre of writing they want to learn. Typically, this is the point in the school year that I teach Informational Writing to prepare them for the Research Writing Unit in November.

However, for the past couple of years, students have come to me as really strong writers of the 5-paragraph essay and I haven't needed to teach Informational Writing. I replaced it a couple of years with Poetry and the students really enjoyed it! This school year, I suggested poetry and then randomly suggested a Mystery story. The students got super excited about Mystery Writing; maybe because it's October and Halloween is at the top of every child's favorite holiday list! Either way, their excitement rubbed off on me and I decided to go with it and create a unit to teach them!

We are about a week in and I can just feel the energy from students about their ideas and plans for their stories! This week we are experiencing hurricane weather and tornado warnings and watches, so I took my extra, unplanned time off from the classroom and finished up my plans and materials for this unit! I am looking forward to seeing what my fifth graders create in the next couple of weeks!

I write the lesson plans in an outline format so they are easy to follow (step by step). There is also a list of materials needed, all of which are provided. You can literally print this off today and teach!

Teaching Posters to use during the "Teach" portion of the Minilessons and are labeled as such for easy access within the 45 pages.

Teacher Writing Examples allow you to actually write during the "I do" portion of the Minilessons - all of which are included for each lesson.

Meet These Common Core State Standards for Grades 3 -5

Third GradeCCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.3.BUse dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.4With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.5With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.10Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3.EProvide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.10Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.4Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.10Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

StatCounter

About Me

Hello! I am a fifth grade teacher, and I am loving life at my dream job. I have tons of ideas that I am excited to share with other teachers throughout the school year. I hope to connect with each other so we can collaborate via blog!